cadet blogs

It’s been a while since the last blog. I got wrapped up in things and forgot to take a second to write! Anyway, second semester is so much better than the first! I just reread my January blog, and it’s hard to believe how long ago that was—time has gone by so quickly. Throughout first semester, I was counting down the days until Thanksgiving and Christmas because I wanted to get out so badly. Now, I still want to be home, but there’s not a sense of urgency. I’m heading home in one week, and the summer training starts in the beginning of May! It’s come on me by surprise since I haven’t really been focusing on what’s to come. Privileges for the fourth class are right around the corner, which is hard to believe, yet very encouraging! This place continues to get better. For those finding out about their applications, enjoy your senior year! If things do not go as planned, never give up. And have a great spring break!

This is the time of the year at the Academy known as the “dark ages,” but for me, everything looks bright and exciting! I am loving my schedule and my classes, and I’m back into the swing of things here: life is good! The first round of tests went really well and we have midterms coming up soon but I am feeling confident about those as well! That reminds me a verse in the Bible.

Ecclesiastes 3:22a “There is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot.”

Hmm, how fitting! Good thing I am rejoicing in my work, I’m loving school right now! :)

President’s weekend (Feb. 15th-18th) was a lot of fun, as I went with the crew team to Boston to compete in the C.R.A.S.B.’s Rowing Indoor Championships! It takes place at Boston University in their hockey stadium, and the top rowers and athletes from around the country of all ages come to compete. It was a great venue for this experience. It is arguably one of the hardest competitions to take part in, because as if 2Ks aren’t hard enough to compete in (ask any rower…they’re pretty rough), you have to deal with the stress and pressure of competing on such a big stage, but it was a lot of fun! The guys on the crew team are awesome and the coaching staff is outstanding; it’s going to be a great spring season! I can’t wait!

Unfortunately I don’t have much else to say…this time of the year is pretty low key, but as usual email with any questions you may have about the Academy.

Here is another verse to leave you with; one of my favorites!

Nahum 1:7: “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.”

I passed Boards!!! Now I know to most people this means nothing but to a freshman at the Coast Guard Academy, it marks one of the most important feats of your first year here. Boards is an indoctrination test, we are handed a 50-page packet and told to study. When it comes time to actually take the test it is administered by a senior as an oral exam and you are asked to answer 10 questions pulled from anywhere in the packet. The information consists of Coast Guard ranks, rates, history, nautical flags, damage control, Coast Guard heroes, cutter and aircrafts and a million other things. In order to pass you must answer eight of the ten questions correctly. So what’s the big deal? When everyone in the class passes then we get to act like normal people finally! No more silly freshman traditions. We get Facebook back, no more bracing up, and we actually get to talk to our friends while transiting the halls of the barracks. For the freshman here at the Academy several hours goes into studying for this test and though a few of us have passed, our mission is to now help our shipmates pass as well.

With Boards over with for me my next big milestone is spring break! Just about a week away and I can’t believe how fast the time has gone by. It will be nice to go home to see my family in Texas and get away from this less than perfect New London weather. It’s crazy to think that I reported into the Academy eight months ago. I can’t begin to explain how much I have changed over this time and how much I have learned about myself. The best part about it all is that I still have so much more to learn. So I guess I’m on to my next challenge, even though I have just crossed one big hurdle, I have a feeling that this place might just have another one to throw at me.